Circaidy Gregory Review
by Booksy

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Book
of the Month May 2012

I first read this book a week ago on the East Coast Mainline from Darlington to London Kings Cross (‘Look left, a cobbled lane and a crypt of hats’). I read it again from St Pancras to Paris Gare du Nord (‘above the summer marriage of grasses’), and again from Paris Montparnasse to Niort (‘All the forks, the platters, the cruet set: everything is dancing.’). I waited several days, and read it again, three times on the return journey; the last time, back to front so that I ended with ‘Snails’. Those snails! (‘Why are they all called Tony or Erasmus or King Nacre?’) I love this poem. It opens the book and encapsulates all that for me is so wonderful about Chris Emery’s poetry: the wit, the connections, the sheer joy in words and what they can do, the shock of unexpected juxtapositions, the extraordinary insight into the ordinary, the leap beyond the mundane into the terrifying, the ineffable logic...

Book
of the Month January 2012

Bloodmining by Laura Wilkinson

Bridge House Publishing

This is a very well-crafted debut novel. I was hooked from the start and the characters pull you in, getting under your skin.

As mentioned, I particularly liked the futuristic setting of this novel with the slight differences from contemporary life and the survivor aftermath feel following an international disaster. The themes of identity, loss and motherhood are explored in an emotionally engaging way, whilst never becoming mawkish.

The novel is structured using three time periods. Jumping back in time enables the secret Elizabeth carries to be unfolded gradually.

This is a real page turner and I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys contemporary fiction with a difference.